


moonrise

by chennieforyourthoughts



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: A little bit of blood, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, M/M, Magic, Minhyuk is plotting, OT7, Werewolf Changkyun, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 13:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18095528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chennieforyourthoughts/pseuds/chennieforyourthoughts
Summary: The afternoon before a full moon is probablynotthe ideal time for a werewolf to go on a date, but Changkyun is nothing if not stubborn.Or: Changkyun is distracted, Jooheon is distracting, Kihyun is mildly done with everyone, Minhyuk is very much interested, Hoseok is counting down hours until moonrise, Hyungwon is staring rather ominously at Changkyun's date, and Hyunwoo is working late.





	moonrise

**Author's Note:**

> Changkyun Polyship Bingo: Urban Fantasy!
> 
> To start out my bingo row, I decided to go back to my roots with OT7.... or pre-OT7?
> 
> Rated T just to be safe, but I personally think it's rather tame.

Maybe it’s the softness that intrigues Changkyun at first: the little sweaterpaws, the wire-frame glasses, and the creamy blonde hair. Alright, so the student sitting next to Changkyun in his Intro to Bio course is relatively cute, but it’s the difference between the student and Changkyun’s partners that catches his attention. Given how quietly he introduces himself to Changkyun, he’s probably most like Hyunwoo or maybe Hoseok, although Changkyun wonders how shy this Jooheon actually is when he’s around good friends. The tips of his fingers are callused, Changkyun notices, and there’s another callus on his pinky evidently from dragging against paper, if the way Jooheon’s writing now is any indication. Although many first-years are taking their lecture notes on a laptop, Jooheon writes his in a somewhat beat-up leather notebook.

So this classmate of Changkyun’s is pretty cute, and since Changkyun knows the material being covered already, he starts mentally debating. _Human or not?_

Jooheon is squinting at the professor at the lectern, hand racing to document the class in royal blue ink. Changkyun closes his eyes and sniffs carefully to see if he can scent anything unusual. _No spells, no jinxes, not even a little magical “background noise” present._ Changkyun sniffs again, and still comes up with nothing. He tries one more time with his eyes open, and sees that Jooheon is rummaging around in his backpack, in search of…. Tissues?

“Here, would you like some?” Jooheon extends a package of tissues to Changkyun, who stares at him and his outstretched hand in rapid succession.

“Oh, thank you very much,” he says after a moment, and Jooheon smiles sympathetically before turning back to his notes. _Smells absolutely lovely but decidedly non-magical…. Must be human, then._

Changkyun feels his own magic surge, and quickly tamps it down. _God, now that he’s noticed Jooheon’s scent, it’s completely distracting._ Beside him, Jooheon stops writing and sneezes, and Changkyun jumps somewhat guiltily. _Huh, now he wonders…._

He lets his magic rise, giving it a wisp of intent, and sure enough, Jooheon sneezes again. _Magic-sensitive, then. Maybe it’s just to his particular kind, though._ Changkyun tries to keep himself from sulking, but it’s difficult now that he realizes how much restraint he’s going to have to keep over his magic if he wants to continue sitting next to Jooheon for the rest of the year. _Well, perhaps Kihyun hyung can cast a spell over Jooheon to make him immune?_

 

🐾🐾🐾

 

Nothing of the sort occurs. The closest Kihyun gets to directly spelling Jooheon is when Changkyun pleads with him to enchant Jooheon’s “lost” scarf. Sure, the dragon rolls his eyes at the request, but he does weave threads of his magic into the fabric to keep Jooheon from being affected by inclement weather, and even gets Hoseok to deliver the scarf to Jooheon to “save Changkyun’s dignity.” _Excuse him,_ Changkyun has plenty of control over himself.

Well, that being said, the weather-protecting scarf does not keep Jooheon from being exceedingly distracting, especially when he forgoes cologne like this particular afternoon. After months of both making heart eyes at each other and Minhyuk’s meddling, Changkyun and Jooheon are seated across from each other at their favorite coffee place, all familiar conversation behind suddenly shy smiles. It’s freezing outside, but the cups in their hands are warm, and it’s far from their first date, and Changkyun is telling the truth.

“Please continue,” Jooheon urges. Changkyun takes a sip of his warm drink to soothe his throat, which is protesting the extended amount of talking. “I already knew that magic and magical beings existed, but never would have guessed you are so prevalent. Do your partners all have magic as well?”

Changkyun nodded and noticed how Jooheon shifted in his seat. _He was probably self-conscious about being the only human_ _involved, and though he’d known about Changkyun’s partners from the beginning, Changkyun couldn’t help but still worry…._ “Yes, they do. Let’s see…. Minhyuk hyung is a siren, which I’m sure you know about from _The Odyssey_ and such. His magic is stronger closer to the sea, but not water in general. Hyunwoo is a bear who can shape-shift; I’m not sure exactly what he is, and he won’t disclose the information, so we don’t pry, but he can change your dreams as well. Kihyun is a dragon, so that means he’s bound to water and has control over weather— he’s the one who enchanted your scarf.”

“Oh, so that’s why I never get rained on or snowed on anymore?” Jooheon had been able to tell there was something new in the scarf when it was returned (although he hadn’t known it was magic at the time); it didn’t make him sneeze like Changkyun’s magic, but it made the back of his neck tingle in a somewhat pleasant way. This makes sense to Changkyun when Jooheon tells him, for Kihyun’s magic is more protective than Changkyun’s somewhat predatory.

“Exactly,” Changkyun confirms. “He doesn’t have scales when he’s human, if you’re wondering,” he says in reply to Jooheon’s somewhat thoughtful expression. With a soft “ah,” Jooheon lets him continue his explanation. “Hoseok is a _kumiho_. Do you know the mythology?” Jooheon nods, and Changkyun smiles. “Of course you do. Well, like his Japanese cousins, he enjoys good noodles, although he _does_ prefer ramyun to _kitsune udon._ And yes, he can shape-shift and change gender, but the Hoseok you’ve seen around campus is his usual form. Now, he was quite lonely before he came to us, so he summoned for himself his very own demon companion.”

“Is that Hyungwon?” Jooheon asks. He’s seen Hyungwon with Hoseok at practically all times, although they haven’t ever spoken, and though he hadn’t questioned it at the time, Jooheon doesn’t think he’s ever seen Hyungwon without a choker on. Perhaps it isn’t a choker after all.

Changkyun glows with happiness at Jooheon’s correct guess. “It is. Hyungwon is bound to him by contract— you can tell by his collar— and spends most of his time either dancing or asleep at home. Trust me, he isn’t as cold or intimidating as he first seems when you get to know him.” Jooheon swallows hard as Changkyun’s demeanor changes for a second, the other obviously remembering something about Hyungwon. From the way Changkyun’s magic projects during the spike, even _Jooheon_ can tell that it is obviously something good. “And, uh, that’s everyone. Sorry about the magic, it’s stronger the closer it gets to moonrise tonight.”

Jooheon stares at him in black confusion, but then remembers the weather forecast had said that it is a full moon tonight. “Oh! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I forgot! Am I keeping you here? Do you want to walk home?” Changkyun chuckles as his suddenly frantic date drains the last of his drink.

“Please relax, I’ll be fine. It might be best for me to head home now before my magic becomes too obtrusive, though.” Changkyun and Jooheon gather their belongings from the booth, and Changkyun gets the door for Jooheon.

As they walk outside together, Jooheon tries not to fidget. “You’ll be alright? May I walk you home?” His nose is tingling from the perfect mixture of frigid winter air and Changkyun’s strengthened magic, and Jooheon finds himself caught as Changkyun interlaces their hands.

“Thank you hyung, that would be lovely.”

There is not a single thought in Jooheon’s mind about leaving, even now that he is aware Changkyun is not quite as human as he may seem. Changkyun’s magic has strengthened enough that by now Jooheon can smell it properly, sage and nutmeg and a little bite of spice. “So, how true is human pop culture’s portrayal of wolves like you?”

Changkyun hums low in his throat, but his grip on Jooheon remains light. “Well, I assume we’re talking about television and such, and not the depths of the Internet…. Not horrible, in short, except that we don’t go on monthly rages searching for unwitting humans to slaughter, hunt, and turn. Bloodlust is exchangeable, so that’s what current wolves do.”

Jooheon pretends he understands and focuses on keeping walking, not stumbling like he’s drunk on Changkyun’s magic. _Living with five other magical beings…. Jooheon has no idea how Changkyun can handle it._ “Kihyun hyung knows you’re walking me home, so he’s probably making dinner for you as well.” Changkyun shrugs somewhat guiltily when Jooheon looks at him like he’s grown a third arm. “Sorry, he can be pushy.”

“It would be an honor,” Jooheon says. Changkyun’s palm tingles against his own.

Changkyun and his partners live in an apartment, it appears. Jooheon isn’t overly surprised; real estate in Seoul is expensive enough and crowded enough that Jooheon and his friends live in apartments as well. The wolf leads him through the pristine lobby and greets the security guard familiarly; Jooheon finds himself struggling to keep up, even though Changkyun is walking by his side. They take the elevator together, a good two feet of space between them but hands still entwined. When the doors _ding_ open, Jooheon lets Changkyun take the lead again and observes what he can about the corridor they’re in. It’s indoors, cozy in shades of grey and pale blue, and the walls are tastefully adorned with landscape portraits. Jooheon recognized this building as one of the more upscale ones in the city when entering and wonders how Changkyun and his partners get by. As if Changkyun can hear his curiousity, he smiles and divulges something Jooheon never expected to hear: “Kihyun and Hyunwoo hyungs are lawyers for magical folk. Hyunwoo is a litigator; Kihyun is a prosecutor.”

“Huh.” They’ve reached Changkyun’s door, and Jooheon is flooded with dread as he wonders how much the plethora of magic from the beings living there will affect him. He’s already been sneezing every few steps; Changkyun’s magic has become increasingly potent with the darkening of the sky.

The door opens even before Changkyun drops Jooheon’s hand and starts unlocking it. Behind it is someone with black hair and a pilfered sweater, all bubbling excitement and words so quick Jooheon can only hope to catch a third of them. “Hello, you must be Jooheon!” He exclaims, finally, and for once Jooheon can hear distinctly what he said.

“I am,” Jooheon replies, and Changkyun’s partner absolutely beams at him.

“I’m Minhyuk! Thank you for bringing Changkyun home, he’s always needier on full moons.” Minhyuk cackles at Changkyun’s horrified expression and dances out of the way to urge both host and visitor into the apartment.

“Please don’t listen to him,” Changkyun urges, and Jooheon resists his own urge to laugh.

“I’ll try not to,” Jooheon assures, ignoring the affronted “hey!” coming from Minhyuk in favor of giving Changkyun a kiss on the cheek. “Please stay safe, Changkyun-ah.”

Hoseok is leaning against a doorframe nearby, and he purrs when Changkyun’s magic spikes again and practically floods the room. Jooheon jumps like he’s been shot at the sound, having obviously not noticed the other, and his eyes widen dramatically as he takes in the sight of Hoseok approaching him and Changkyun. The elder has gone back to blonde and wears a graphic tanktop and tight black jeans, but the most striking aspects of Hoseok’s appearance by _far_ are the two rounded, white ears peeking out from under his dyed hair and the nine tails fanning out behind him in a strange form of cloud. One tail is curled around his own wrist, and another flicks in Jooheon’s direction as he walks. They’re hypnotizing, and before Jooheon realizes, Hoseok is right in front of him and taking hold of Changkyun by the wrist. “Pleasure to see you, Jooheon-ssi,” Hoseok says. Jooheon gulps and returns the greeting, and the _kumiho_ smiles at him, wide and disarmingly pure. “Will you stay for dinner once our dear Changkyun has been cared for? I know all of us would greatly enjoy your company and getting to know you better.”

Jooheon gives Hoseok a small bow, and the other’s eyes crinkle as he smiles again. “It would be my honor, Hoseok-ssi.” Changkyun’s just barely restraining his trembling, yet Hoseok is clearly not fooled by the youngest’s control.

“Are you ready?” He asks Changkyun, whose exhale comes out shaky. “Are you sure you would like my help?”

“Always, hyung,” Changkyun replies, and Jooheon steps out of their way. He doesn’t feel excluded, per se, but slightly awkward, yes. _That’s probably what happens when your date is about to turn into a bloodthirsty wolf in the company of one of his partners,_ Jooheon assumes. Changkyun gives him a little wave as he and Hoseok exit, and as Jooheon returns it the human can’t help but wonder what on Earth to do next. _Well, he’s taken off his shoes, and Minhyuk seems to have disappeared, so maybe he can try to find another of Changkyun’s partners?_

The best way to do that, Jooheon decides, is to follow his nose. He’s stopped sneezing for the time being but can smell spices and cooking rice coming from the doorway to his left, and just beyond that, a different magic: something clean, like freshly-dried laundry, or perhaps spring rains. Sure enough, Jooheon quickly reaches the kitchen, where he finds someone preparing dinner. _This must be Kihyun,_ he thinks, remembering what Changkyun had told him, but somewhat wary about meeting a complete stranger.

Said stranger looks up from his cooking before Jooheon is even through the kitchen door, and _oh no, oh God, he’s cute._ One would be unable to tell he is a dragon based on first appearances, but Jooheon’s initial observation is indeed correct, and the human’s about ninety-percent sure his heart stops when Kihyun looks at him. Like Hoseok, Kihyun has dyed hair, but his is pewter and the fringe is split; half sweeps off to the right, while the other half arches and curls on the left, drawing Jooheon’s attention straight to Kihyun’s eyes. _Alright, now he’s definitely not human._ There’s something slightly stormy in Kihyun’s eyes, and Jooheon realizes that his irises are the same grey as his hair…. Which is the same grey as the storm clouds hanging over the city.

“Good evening, Jooh—" Kihyun begins to greet Changkyun’s guest, but a sudden _crash_ from the direction in which Changkyun and Hoseok disappeared abruptly cuts him off. Jooheon jumps again and gasps in shock, and they stare at each other. _But wait, Kihyun looks annoyed rather than scared?_

A loud groan from close behind makes Jooheon flinch. It’s Hyungwon, head thrown back in what appears to be exasperation. “There goes the lingerie chest again, dammit,” the newcomer groans again, and Jooheon is no longer surprised to see that horns are growing from underneath Hyungwon’s blonde hair. Jooheon notes that while the hair is honey, the horns are corkscrew-spiraled like a blackbuck and alternate in horizontal striping between cream-honey and dark mahogany. Now that Hyungwon’s identified the sound, Jooheon can very clearly hear glass bottles and other objects rolling around on the floor, and he begins to relax.

“Hello, I’m Jooheon,” he says, and Kihyun gives him a little smile ( _gosh, Changkyun’s right, he does look like a hamster_ ), but Hyungwon’s looking at Jooheon like he wants to devour the human. Jooheon can’t quite tell if that’s something _he_ wants or not, or even if he’d live to experience it again, so he squeaks out “please take care of me….”

It’s not a moment too soon. An eardrum-shattering scream takes the place of whatever Kihyun and Hyungwon were going to say, and now the trio are _all_ staring in the direction of Changkyun and Hoseok. The sound is clearly from Hoseok, as it’s far too high in pitch to be from Changkyun, and then they’re hearing two different sets of _yips_ and _yelps._ Jooheon watches Minhyuk reappear through the noise, something wild in his expression which is forcibly tamed as he approaches Jooheon. When the canids have gone silent, Minhyuk is all that Jooheon can see, and now that he isn’t talking, Jooheon would have done almost anything to hear him again.

“You’re curious,” Minhyuk says after a beat, and Jooheon slowly nods. “And now you’re curious how I can tell that you’re curious. Well, I can sense what you want, Jooheon, and right now you want knowledge. Beyond that, some other things are buried a little deeper, but if there’s one thing I can keep quiet, it’s a secret.”

This at least Jooheon is beginning to understand, and so he changes his current want to a desire to get to know everyone present better. Minhyuk smirks as he reminds Jooheon that Hyunwoo will be arriving home from work soon, and the expression is human enough if teasing in more than one way.

Dinner is lovely, and it strikes Jooheon that perhaps what makes the group he is with mesh together isn’t Changkyun, as he previously assumed, but the group in its entirety, with every member giving to every other member. _But of course that’s what their being partners means,_ Jooheon determines as he watches Hyunwoo and Hyungwon wash the dishes together after the meal before sending them through the dishwasher.

Jooheon had thought he’d be pushed a bit to the side by the closeness of Changkyun and his partners, and had never even dreamed that Hyunwoo would now be herding him and the others towards the living room so they can watch something Kihyun had wanted to see for a while. He’d certainly _never, ever_ dreamed that he’d have Minhyuk and Hyungwon gently pulling him backwards to rest against them on the couch they share, that Minhyuk’s shoulder would make a comfortable pillow for when Jooheon can just barely feel Hyungwon’s breath tickling his bare skin every time the demon breathes.

The one to appear first is Hoseok, being nuzzled forwards by Changkyun. He walks as a fox, light even when he’s heavy with exhaustion and there’s a little bit of blood, drying rust in artic white, smeared in the fur at the scruff of his neck and spotting his paws. Hyungwon reaches down and lifts him up before he can limp all the way to the couch, cradles him carefully with both arms as he plays with Hoseok’s toe beans. Each of the nine tails beats to the same rhythm, a steady _whap whap whap_ just barely audible under the soundtrack of the movie.

Changkyun’s coat is russet, and he’s much smaller than Jooheon ~~feared~~ predicted— about the same size as a large Husky. With that being said, he’s still much too large to fit on the crowded couch, so Changkyun sprawls himself in front of where Hyunwoo and Kihyun are sharing a recliner and starts licking at his own scratches.

Jooheon surreptitiously watches him for a full movie scene, then decides spending time with Changkyun is far more entertaining than Kihyun’s pick. He climbs off Minhyuk and Hyungwon and lies down behind the wolf, cautious not to touch anywhere where Changkyun might have been scratched yet daring to drape an arm across Changkyun’s shoulders and bury his nose in a sesame-colored neck. The scruff is bushy but the undercoat is soft, and for once Jooheon does not even sniffle.

 

🐾🐾🐾

 

If, when everyone else had drifted off after the movie was finished (and some before), Hyunwoo turned off the TV and the lights and turned everyone’s sleep good and dreamless, he does not reveal it in the morning. Someone besides Minhyuk has to be responsible for keeping safe a _few_ secrets in the household, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a very fun AU to write, and there was a lot of detail that just didn’t fit into this piece.... maybe I’ll write more.


End file.
